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The Dark Arts Defence League

Anyone know what it is? Lockhart is an honorary member of the DADL, but is it ever mentioned in the books again? Does anyone have a clue about what they do, whether it's some department of the Ministry, or just a place for show-offs?

This completely gorgeous banner, which makes me happier than a squirrel, was made by Hokey

It's not a department in the ministry (at least it's not listed in the Lexicon)... I don't really know what it could be though. Maybe it's simply a group of people who've done something heroic? Or maybe a group of unqualified wizards who couldn't get into the Ministry, but wanted to pursue catching dark wizards anyway? Something like how civilians can make a "Civil Arrest", where they can legally hold a criminal at gunpoint--or other means of "holding"-- until officers arrive.

I've always thought of it being like and OBE or Order of Merlin. It's just a fancy title for those who have taken heroic action against the dark arts or want to make it sound as if they've done something.

Albus Dumbledore was never a member of the Dark Forces Defence League (as far as I am aware), so that leads me to believe it is more of a society of rich people who say "evil is bad" and don't actually do anything.

I agree. Dumbledore is very much an activist, so I imagine without him as a member, it just a bunch of people sitting around, talking about how bad the Dark Arts are, but they would never do anything about it.

It does, however, sound like just the kind of organization Lockhart would be a part of.

Maybe the DADL once served a legitimate one-time purpose, like slaying a particularly violent band of giants in the 14th century, or whatever. (Whatever the purpose, it would be the sort of thing Professor Binns might have mentioned a time or two when Harry wasn't listening.) Once that task was taken care of, the organization continued to live on in other capacities.

Maybe the DADL now exists to just to verbally renounce evil as has been said, or it could be the descendants of the original DADL if it is the "one-time purpose" sort of thing. If the DADL is a hereditary group, then it can make sense that Lockhart was only an honorary member.

The DADL could, for story purposes, be some ancient fraternity that existed to maintain peace in England before the establishment of the ministry. Who knows? Again, this is all wild guessing.